French President Nicolas Sarkozy told his Pakistani counterpart he wanted the Muslim country to have a wide-ranging deal to buy nuclear equipment like the one obtained by its rival India, Pakistan said on Friday.

Such a suggestion would cause uproar in the international community because a Pakistani scientist was at the centre of the world's biggest nuclear proliferation scandal, raising fears that sensitive technology could leak out once again.

"France has agreed to transfer civilian nuclear technology to Pakistan ... They have agreed that Pakistan should be treated like India," Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters after his country's president met Sarkozy.

"President Sarkozy said, and I quote him, 'What can be done for India can be done for Pakistan as well.' This is a major development," Qureshi said after the meeting in Paris between Sarkozy and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

An official in Sarkozy's office said France wanted Pakistan to improve its nuclear security but did not comment on the idea of an India-style deal.

"The president confirmed that we are prepared ... to cooperate with Pakistan in the area of nuclear safety," he said.

The 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, which was created after India tested its first nuclear weapon in 1974 and seeks to prevent nuclear technology from falling into the wrong hands, agreed in September to lift a ban on nuclear trade with India.

The waiver, which was won after years of lobbying by the United States, paved the way for a U.S.-India nuclear deal under which India can receive sensitive nuclear technology even though it has not signed up to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Supporters of the deal say that it will help meet India's booming electricity needs, but its critics say it gives India all the benefits of NPT membership but hardly any of the obligations, and rewards it for developing the atom bomb.

Qureshi dismissed concerns about the safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and its proliferation history. Like India, Pakistan has also not signed up to the NPT.

"We will assure the world that we are an important and a responsible nuclear power and we can handle these matters without threatening or endangering anyone," he said.

Scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, revered by many Pakistanis as the father of the country's nuclear bomb, confessed to selling nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya in 2004.

He was pardoned at the time by the government, and put under house arrest, but Pakistan's High Court declared Kahn free in February, ending his five-year confinement.

Pakistan has never given the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, direct access to Khan.

"Pakistan has no issues with the IAEA. We are willing to give international guarantees. We want the world to feel secure, and Pakistan will give all necessary guarantees," Qureshi said when asked about the feasibility of a Pakistani nuclear deal.

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (L) smiles at his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari as he
leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris. — Reuters

According to Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, France has offered a civilian nuclear technology deal to Pakistan on the same lines as the US-India agreement signed earlier. This announcement is bound to create a lot of excitement not just in Pakistan but also in countries that have strong reservations about Pakistan’s nuclear programme

Before discussing the implications of the deal, it is important to point out that there has been no announcement from the French government’s side on this issue so far. Exactly what has been offered and on what terms, is not known. However, there are reports that an official from Mr Nicolas Sarkozy’s office observed that the French president had confirmed his willingness to ‘cooperate with Pakistan in the area of nuclear safety’.

In the light of this, it appears that the Pakistan government is counting its chickens before they’ve hatched. The major concern of the nuclear powers at the moment is the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and how it can be safeguarded from falling into the hands of militants. This contingency has been debated in strategic circles and evidently came up in Paris as well prompting Mr Qureshi to assure the world that Pakistan is a ‘responsible nuclear power’ that can handle the safety of its nuclear arsenal and proliferation concerns.

Be that as it may, an agreement with France has very far-reaching implications for Pakistan’s relations with Paris as well as a number of other countries. Before India tested its nuclear capability in 1974 and Pakistan embarked on its quest for the bomb, Islamabad’s nuclear programme enjoyed the support of many foreign powers. In 1976, France had even signed a deal to supply a reprocessing plant to Pakistan, which was subsequently torpedoed when then American national security adviser Henry Kissinger entered the scene threatening to make a ‘horrible example’ out of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Thereafter nothing has been the same again. Pakistan turned to clandestine sources and allies like China for nuclear supplies until it managed to develop nuclear capability indigenously and detonate a bomb in 1998 following in India’s footsteps.

If France has now agreed on a deal as the one the US has entered into with India, this amounts to a radical change in the international politics of nuclear proliferation that has a direct bearing on Pakistan. It will be a diplomatic coup of sorts on Mr Zardari’s part if France as well as the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group that has imposed an embargo on Islamabad actually agree to reverse their stance. This will enhance Pakistan’s nuclear credibility by indicating that it can be trusted. A key element in the Indo-American deal is the provision for monitoring 14 civilian reactors by IAEA inspectors, a moratorium on nuclear testing and safeguards to ensure the security of nuclear arms. Would Pakistan agree to these terms?

Elysee Palace said France had agreed only to co-operate in the field of "nuclear safety"

Click to expand...

A spokesman for the French presidency was careful to rein in expectations, saying Mr Sarkozy had "confirmed France was ready, within the framework of its international agreements, to co-operate with Pakistan in the field of nuclear safety."

They want to co-operate with Pak on "nuclear safety" ie safety of their nuclear weapons and power installations, lest they be targeted by terrorists. That's all. With the Taliban 100 miles from Islamabad, the whole world is worried about nukes falling into the hands of terrorists, and France is doing its bit to prevent that.

But Pakistanis are famous for their hyperbole. Didn't they say last year that China was offering them a similar deal like that offered by the US to India? Didn't hear much about that later.

NEW DELHI: Though Pakistan had requested cooperation in nuclear energy from France, there is no likelihood of that happening, said sources privy to the recent meeting between Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. All that France has offered in the nuclear arena is cooperation to ensure the safety of the nuclear installations in Pakistan, they added.

“Nuclear energy is a special form of energy due to links between civilian and military uses. India’s was a very special case. A series of safeguards have been incorporated,” said the sources while seeking to set the record straight on Pakistan’s assertions that France had offered to cooperate in the field of nuclear energy.
“Not in same category”

“Countries should respect international obligations. India and Pakistan are not in the same category. Discussions with India were held for 10 years after which a system was devised that was acceptable to the world,” they said while clarifying Pakistan’s assertion that Mr. Sarkozy has offered civilian nuclear technology to Pakistan, which was termed by Islamabad as a move of “significant development.”

The sources said Paris clarified that the main focus was on the fight against terrorism, help to refugees and the stabilisation of Pakistan. With the democratic transformation in Pakistan, Europe and the U.S. are keen to work with the dispensation in power since it was essentially against fundamentalism, stood against communalism and was for secularism.
Tackling terror

The pressing question is of international terrorism, which is deeply rooted in Pakistan, exploring a combination of economic help and some cooperation in security, with the main aim being the fight against terrorism. Also, the last thing the West wants is for the refugees to be left alone by the democratic world and being helped instead by Islamic fundamentalists, said the sources.

it cost 7-10 billion to build one reactor i doubt Pakistan can afford it even with the free money USA is giving.

Click to expand...

Pakistan has a history of doing whatever is necessary to try match up to the indian military. Remember how in 1974, after india tested the nuke, the Pakistani premier declared that the Pakistanis will eat grass if necessary to fund their nuclear program. Ample evidence of how the military dictatorship considers the people little more than cattle to feed their regime.

I guess the Pakistani people will have to go on their 'grass diet' again to fund this exansion.